Monthly Archives: December 2013

I guess I should introduce myself before starting this post. I’m Cas Peace, the UK author of the Artesans of Albia fantasy series. The reason for this post (and many thanks to Dionne Lister for inviting me on to her blog!) is that I’m relaunching the series now that the first trilogy is complete.

Of course, that hints at more books to come. Yes – there are two more trilogies – making nine books in all! The first three, King’s Envoy, King’s Champion, and King’s Artesan, are all available RIGHT NOW on Amazon, and for the duration of this blog tour (December 12 – 18) will be offered at some great prices.

So, the theme of this post is one fantasy writer to another. I’ll confess that I didn’t know much about Dionne or her books before this, but I do know a few things. I know she writes epic fantasy, and that she writes about dragons. Ok – two of my most favorite things! My own books are epic fantasy, although mine are usually classed as High Fantasy, and mine are aimed primarily at adults, whereas Dionne’s target readership is a touch younger. Yet from what I can see, our respective readerships would cross over quite easily. I have had 12-yr-olds read and really enjoy my books, and Dionne has clearly had the same reaction from adults. Fantasy readers are some of the most accepting readers out there, I think!

My fascination with fantasy started with Anne McCaffrey’s dragons of Pern, and I’ve yet to see a writer ‘do’ dragons better (I’m prepared to be persuaded, though!). When I began my own writing, everyone who knew me assumed my books would be about dragons. They were astounded when I told them there wasn’t a single dragon in them! The creature depicted on the front of King’s Envoy is as close as I come: it’s called a tangwyr and it’s a sort of eagle-cross-bat. Nasty guy!

The other thing I know about Dionne is that she likes to use ‘proper’ English. This is another area where we are alike as writers. I treasure our language and as a fantasy writer, I’ve created my fair share of fantasy names and words. Language is wonderful like that – it really lends itself to being bent and moulded to our needs. But what every reader needs in order to appreciate a writer’s work is a good grounding in the basic rules of language. I feel very strongly that children should be taught how to spell properly and how to punctuate. It’s not that hard if taught correctly!

Dionne also likes poetry. I’m not a big reader of poetry per se, but I do use it in my books in the form of songs. I’m also a singer/songwriter, and my main female character, Sullyan, is a musician and singer. She has music in her background, and so it was inevitable that she would sing at some point in my books. I decided that this would be a good USP for my books, and so I recorded all the three songs from my first trilogy, and they are offered on my website as FREE downloads. They also feature in the series trailer. See the links below.

I don’t know about Dionne, but I sometimes find myself writing prose that almost comes out as poetry. Fantasy novels lend themselves to this, I think. Much of Tolkien’s writing has a very lyrical quality to it, and of course, there are songs in his books, too.

The last thing I know about Dionne that links us is that she likes chocolate. Me too! Many a difficult chapter has been written to a chocolate accompaniment. I believe it fuels the brain cells, and I won’t hear anyone tell me different! What do you think, Dionne? Ha! I agree, Cas. And the prose/poetry thing is right too. It’s our way of being lyrical. And thanks for joining me today, Cas, it’s been a pleasure learning all about your writing. Now everyone should go and check out her awesome fantasy books.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Cas Peace was born in Hampshire UK, in 1957, and has lived there most of her life. Her first career was as a horse-riding instructor, and horses remain very close to her heart. She then spent 13 years working for the British Civil Service before leaving the UK to live in Italy for three years, 1991-1994. She speaks passable but by no means perfect Italian, and loves to return to Italy whenever she can.

Cas’s other great loves are anything to do with animals, especially dogs and horses, (she supports many animal charities) and also singing. Cas loves folk songs and along with her husband, who plays guitar, has performed in many a Southern England folk club. Sometimes they even asked her back! She writes folk songs to accompany her fantasy novels, and offers them as free downloads from her website.

Artesans of Albia series synopsis.

On a foolhardy foray into a foreign realm, Taran Elijah is attacked by a terrible weapon known as the Staff. Killing its wielder, he escapes into Albia, inadvertantly carrying the Staff.

Concerned by the vicious raids that follow Taran’s actions, Major Sullyan of the High King’s forces crosses into Andaryon to seek diplomatic resolution to the crisis. She is captured and tortured by Lord Rykan, aspirant to the Andaryon throne.

Slowly dying, Sullyan escapes his clutches. She offers her skills to the Hierarch in defense of his throne, finally confronting Rykan on the field of battle.

Her handsome Captain and lover, Robin Tamsen, embarks on a desperate quest to recover the Staff. But Rykan’s greedy General, Sonten, is two steps ahead of him. If Robin cannot lay hold of the weapon before Sonten does, Sullyan’s life and the lives of all Artesans are forfeit.

The race for the Staff has begun.

ADVANCED PRAISE FOR King’s Artesan

“One of the best fantasy books I’ve ever read. The balance between background story and action is just perfect. I’m very glad I found this author. You won’t want to miss this series!” ~Denyse Cohen, author of Witch’s Soulmate, Book 1 of the Living Energy Trilogy

“Splendidly written in a wonderful voice, drew me in immediately. Ms. Peace’s imagination alone gets 5 stars. Spectacular worlds and enchanting scenes. Anyone who enjoys losing themselves in a world of a charming fantasy with plenty of layers and a host of intriguing characters won’t be disappointed!” ~Rosary McQuestion, author of Once Upon Another Time

“As soon as I finished this book I was eager to start the next. I highly recommend this book. Great Job!!” ~Janus Gangi, author of Elizabeth Rose and That Morning After

If you hate people patting themselves on the back, leave now :). Well, it’s not just a case of that, but also of taking a moment to appreciate how far I’ve come and know that no matter how hard it gets in this writing game, someone values my work.

When I first started my writing journey, I dreamed of success, but my realistic hope was that a few people, outside the safe-haven of family and friends, would read my books. Well, I’ve achieved that with the added bonus that this month I was named by iTunes Australia as one of “10 Emerging Fantasy Authors You Must Read.”

That’s so exciting (well it is for me)! I’m so happy and can’t quite believe I get to say that someone’s said that about me. I’m sure you all know what I mean; you strive so long for something, and it’s your dream to be recognised as someone with at least a little bit of skill or talent and then one day someone does it in a very public way. Praise doesn’t come along every day — indeed sometimes it’s the opposite — so I’m going to enjoy it. Whenever I doubt myself, I can look at my screenshot and smile :).

Thank you to the peeps at iTunes for giving me such an awesome accolade and for supporting indie authors alongside the traditionally published ones, and thank you to all the readers who have bought my books — I get excited every time I know someone new is going to read one of my books.

It’s time for me to go as I have to finish writing the third and last book in my fantasy series. Have a great day everyone!

Today I am excited to feature my editor, Chryse Wymer. She constantly embarrasses me by picking up lots of stuff I miss in my own writing — proof that even writers who are editors need editors. Take it away, Chryse *claps*.

Thank you, Dionne Lister, for allowing me to guest post on your blog. You and I both seem to share the same fanatical zeal for proper use of the English language, which is what my blog tour, 30 Days of Linguistic Love, is all about. I’ve been hopping from blog to blog, sharing what I know about grammar, usage, and great writing; I’m even raffling off Amazon gift cards to help you fill up those bookshelves with the basic tools of the writing trade.

I am an American editor, and, in this article, I am using American grammar and usage rules.

My previous three posts covered a comma’s correct usage, and now I’m moving on to a personal favorite: semicolons and colons.

This is the first in a two-part series on semicolons. Follow me tomorrow, for part two on semicolons, on Coral Russell’s blog: http://shelf-stacker.com/

SEMICOLONS AND COLONS

Semicolons

Semicolons separate sentence parts that require a more distinct break than a comma can signal. For fiction writers, semicolons are most often used between two independent clauses not joined by a conjunction, signaling a closer connection between the clauses than a period would, e.g.: “I remember when he first hatched; it was a joyous occasion.” Dionne Lister, A Time of Darkness

Second, the semicolon can sometimes separate coordinate clauses* in long, complex sentences such as: “But Elizabeth was not formed for ill-humour; and though every prospect of her own was destroyed for the evening, it could not dwell long on her spirits; and having told all her griefs to Charlotte Lucas, whom she had not seen for a week, she was soon able to make a voluntary transition to the oddities of her cousin, and to point him out to her in particular notice.” –Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

Colons and semicolons are often misused. The semicolon stops the forward movement of a statement while a colon marks a forward movement, often emphasizing it.

*A clause contains a subject and a verb. Coordinate clauses are individual clauses of a compound sentence, or the independent clauses of a compound-complex sentence.

Chryse Wymer is a freelance copy editor and proofreader whose main focus is on indie writers. Her clients have been well reviewed, and one was recently chosen as a top-five finalist in The Kindle Book Review’s 2013 Best Indie Book Awards in his category: mystery/thriller. For some years, she has been particularly obsessed with William S. Burroughs’s writing, who happened to coin the term heavy metal … her favorite music. She’s also a published (traditionally and indie) author. You can contact her at chrysewymer@yahoo.com, follow her on twitter: @ChryseWymer, or like her on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChryseWymer. For more information and/or pricing, e-mail (above) or visit her Web site: http://ocdeditor.weebly.com/ (and yes, the first letter of Web site is capitalized. Look it up on Merriam-Webster’s.)

Today I’m featuring poet and avid reader, Robert Zimmerman. His poetry is intense and honest. If you enjoy poetry, you should run out and grab this one.

Blurb:

From Robert Zimmermann comes From Where I Stand, an emotional debut poetry collection. Zimmermann explores strained parental relationships, loss of life, and the despair associated with grief. Alongside these darker themes, he delves into the small areas of life that often go unnoticed but become the hope we are searching for.

From Where I Stand is the winner of the Blogger Book Fair Reader’s Choice Award, in the poetry category (Winter 2013)

Robert is a writer. Most of the time his thoughts will grace the pages in the form of poetry, but occasionally some short pieces of fiction will show their faces. His work mainly touches on experiences that shape who he is today and are emotionally engaging but easily accessible to those not familiar with much poetry.

When Robert isn’t writing for himself, he’s writing to help others. In his blog, A Life Among The Pages, Robert posts numerous book reviews, interviews, and other book related posts to help out fellow writers in any way he can.

How qualified is Robert for all of this? Well, he holds an A.A. in Humanities and a B.A. in Creative Writing. Basically it boils down to him having a lot of downtime living at home. At least he has a cute puppy to keep him company while he’s busily at work writing his first collection of poems.